Optimus Prime
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." Profile Archivist, police officer, dreamer. Orion Pax was all of these until he stood up to the tyranny of the Senate and became a rebel. Having helped Megatron overthrow Zeta Prime, Orion was rewarded with near death. While in the undergrid, Orion came across the resting place of the Matrix of Leadership and was reformatted into Optimus Prime, the awe-inspiring leader of the Autobot forces. While the mantle of leadership and every casualty weighs heavily on him, Optimus rarely shows any hint of despair, instead is the charismatic and decisive leader his troops need and they, in turn, inspire him to soldier on. On the battlefield, there are few who can rival Optimus Prime's prowess. He is easily the strongest of any Autobot his size, and his ion blaster and his energon-axe are deadly weapons. He would sacrifice his life to protect his fellow Autobots or those under their care. His compassion for other sentient beings is his only real weakness, though it also serves as one of his greatest sources of resolve __TOC__ History Early Years Orion chose to follow a life of crime-fighting, originally he was chosen to be an Archivist. As such, he attended the Institute and excelled, graduating from the Institute for Higher Programming and enrolling in the Academy of Science and Technology, while in the religious quarter he proved a skeptic, doubting the existence of the Knights of Cybertron. No longer interested in the intellectual pursuits after his findings, Orion instead opted to join the Rodion police force, intent on making a difference. He went on to become a rising star in Cybertron's police force who served as an inspiration to his fellow officers, eventually becoming captain of the Rodion police force. He was notably liberal in his duties, even convincing his old Academy friend Ratchet to run a free clinic in the city's Dead End. When the manual class miner Megatron was arrested for assault, Orion was intrigued by his treatise on non-violent resistance. After doing some investigation and discovering he wasn't guilty, Orion had Megatron released and told him that he had read his work and to keep working for change. In addition, Orion had his officer Whirl locked up for abusing Megatron while he was in jail—an action that made the Senate very unhappy, as they had actually orchestrated Megatron's arrest in order to silence his voice of dissent. A gang of Senate thugs tried to coerce Orion into releasing Whirl, and when he refused, they returned to break Whirl out and kill Orion. Convinced now that Megatron's belief in the corruption of the Senate was true, Orion took his attackers down with a mix of righteous fury and tactical skills, and then forced his way into the Grand Imperium. There, he made a defiant speech to the Senate, saying his eyes had been opened by Megatron, only to be forcibly removed from the building. But Orion's speech had succeeded in reaching one of the Senate's members: Senator Shockwave, who had for some time been searching for prospective new candidates to help free Cybertron from the Senate's corrupt stranglehold. Arranging for Orion's release, Shockwave had his injuries repaired and a cavity for the Matrix of Leadership added to his body, and the pair began working together in secret. Clampdown! In the dark times that followed, as the Senate initiated the Clampdown, and the Decepticon movement inspired by Megatron's writings grew in strength, Orion continued to do his duties the best he could. After saving the derelict Drift from some thugs and delivering him to Ratchet's clinic, Pax witnessed a news report on the death of the current Matrix bearer Nominus Prime, allegedly the victim a rust infection. Calling a meeting with Shockwave, Orion learned from him that the Senate were truly responsible for Nominus's death, and that a plan involving the Decepticons was currently in motion. With Decepticon sympathizer Senator Sherma having recently been murdered, Shockwave feared that fellow sympathizer Momus was in danger, and Pax rushed into action. Unfortunately, he arrived too late, and found Momus dead and officers Prowl and Tumbler fighting his murderer. Pax took out the killer, and upon discovering that he had been using a borrowed body from a Relinquishment Clinic, sent the other two officers to follow the lead. Pax himself, meanwhile, responded to a summons from Garrus-1, where an imprisoned Whirl, seeking revenge against the Senate that had abandoned him, informed Orion of a bombing plot Senator Proteus was masterminding. Regrouping with Prowl and Tumbler — who had discovered the Institute that the Senate was using to brainwash troublemakers — Pax and his allies realized that the Senate had planted a bomb inside Nominus Prime's corpse, intending to blame the destruction on the Decepticons, thereby allowing the Senate to send them all to The Institute to be corrected. Recruiting some super-powered "Outliers" from Shockwave's Academy of Advanced Technology to lend their powers to the effort, Pax led his team in removing the bomb—hidden in the form of a fake Matrix—from Nominus's body as it lay in state, though Pax had to defer to Ratchet in the actual bomb removal, which was wired in with complex locks. The theft successfully completed, the team departed, but, having not been contacted by Roller at the appointed time, Pax sped on ahead to investigate, returning just in time to find that Senate thugs Kroma, Macabre and the Heavies had attacked their safehouse to capture Shockwave. Pax took out one of the Heavies, but Shockwave agreed to surrender when Kroma threatened Roller's life. The remaining Heavy, Anvil, stayed behind to finish off Pax, but Pax used the Matrix-bomb to destroy his attacker. Believing that Shockwave would have been taken to the , Pax had Arcee lead him there, but they discovered the facility deserted: merely one of many Institutes, with no way of knowing in which Shockwave was being held. When next Orion saw Shockwave, he had undergone not only empurata, but a complex form of Shadowplay that stripped him of his emotions. Though Pax believed that Shockwave could overcome what had been done to him, the "new" Shockwave told him that he was not the same 'bot who had befriend him, and to give up on him. It would take some time for the truth to sink in that Shockwave really didn't care any more. On The Run Sentinel Prime, the Senate's chief enforcer and part of the senatorial faction who'd whacked Nominus, wanted Orion Pax dead for interfering. Pax, Roller, and the outliers went on the run. Luckily, he'd made contact with one of Shockwave's other allies and disciples: Zeta of Sistex, who became his newest mentor and backer. While on the lamb, Orion met with the leader of the rebels of Nyon, Hot Rod, and instantly became more interested in his cause, pledging to try to support Nyon in any way that he can. For a short time, he harbored the former Decepticon Shiftlock after a kill order was placed on her by Barricade. Unfortunately, duties that had called Orion away had kept him from being present when Shiftlock was kidnapped by Senator Ratbat and the two subsequently died in a mutual assault. It was also during this time that Pax learned that Sentinel had resorted to wholesale shadowplay and reprogramming to change the minds of Autobots that even had the slightest disagreement with him. Feint, one of those that was supposed to be responsible for those changes came to Pax and agreed that she would not carry out such duties. When she was ordered to force Scattershot under treatment, she faked the surgery, hoping that Scattershot would sell it. He did, but he and his team were returned to Tyger Pax for duty. When Sentinel Prime went on the offensive and captured the Forge, Orion was not part of the attack. Instead, he remained outside of it all, continuing to feel that there was a non-violent solution to the situation, even as it continued to devolve. With the Decepticon escape and subsequent murder of the Senate, Orion saw this final option slip away. War had come and he was helpless to stop it. Orion led the outliers and Hot Rod on a mission into the Forge to attempt to rescue Feint but learned that their actions were in vain - Megatron had ordered her executed because of her abilities. After speaking with Shockwave and failing one last time to get through to him, Orion took all the frames from the Forge including Feint and returned to the Decagon. The following day, with Megatron gloating on the Global-Broadband of his victory, Orion took him to task with becoming the exact opposite of his writings. With Sentinel's passing, Zeta has become the new Prime and pardoned Orion for his past transgressions. Orion's first task was to recruit Impactor into the Autobots. He also was introduced to Ariel, a former dancer turned Autobot recruit, and made fast friends with her. 20 Vorn Later During the interim of the time skip, Orion Pax worked diligently to assist with Zeta Prime. With Zeta Prime busy handling rebuilding the Senate in the wake of the massacre, Orion Pax was tasked to other duties. Among the first things that occurred was an upgrade into a new frame that powered up Orion's abilities. One of the first tests of this rebuild when Orion Pax was tasked with a prisoner exchange - the Decepticons had kidnapped Ratchet from the Free Clinic in Dead End and were demanding a pair of low caste Decepticons - Rack and Ruin in trade. The two Decepticons were fearful that Megatron would terminate them for being captured, something that Orion couldn't understand. Accompanying him on the mission was a wizened scholar, Alpha Trion. The old mech taught Optimus about several things during this mission, and when it turned out that Trion was the actual target of the Decepticon prisoner trade, Orion used what he was taught by both him and Rack and Ruin to assist the trio in escaping, even though Orion himself was captured and sent on a shuttle careening towards Rodion. Orion was able to deduce that the shuttle would crash harmlessly, that is until the shuttle was collided with another shuttle over Rust Spot and changed the trajectory of Orion's shuttle to Iacon. Using the fast transformation techniques taught to him by Rack and Ruin, Orion was able to escape his bonds and steer the shuttle clear of the city and crash it into an unpopulated area. Orion survived the crash with some heavy injuries - but he laments more over the loss of his lucky faceplate. Unfortunately, Orion did not know that Swerve would be the only survivor of the shuttle that his collided with. After this mission, with Zeta Prime busy handling rebuilding the Senate in the wake of the massacre, Orion Pax was tasked with leading the field team of Autobots. Assigned to his own base away from the Decagon, Orion created the Rapid Response unit. With him he brought many of the outliers, Ariel, Impactor, Wheeljack, Torque, and others. They are the mainstay for what is considered 'street' operations on Cybertron while Zeta Prime handles the so-called larger picture items. Autocracy Orion learned of recent attacks by the Decepticons, including the freighter 'Panamax', that had been raided and plundered by the Decepticons. He followed the trail of these supplies to Nyon where he discovered that the Decepticons were using these attacks to fuel a recruitment drive in that city. Orion Pax confronted Hot Rod about this and the answers he got further fractured the relationship between Pax and Rod. Now that Zeta Prime is considering issuing an arrest order on Hot Rod, Orion's ideals are becoming even more muddled in the bureaucracy that is occurring around him. Shortly after this, Orion took Windcharger with him into Nyon to set up an operation to crack down on the Black Market there. After noticing that there were several Autobot personal effects in the stuff that Swindle was selling to the citizens of Nyon, Orion had a momentary lapse of judgement that led to Swindle getting beaten to within an inch of permanent shutdown. Had it not been for the timely intervention of Hot Rod and some of his explosives, it is thought that Orion would have taken Swindle's life. After dropping Swindle off in the Autobase's brig, he retreated to his office where he remained throughout the cycle, lost in thought. After a few cycles of contemplation, Orion emerged from his office. He was still troubled and plagued with what he done until he had a conversation with Ariel, in which he mentioned what was going through his processors and was able to work out many of his problems. Their conversation was just starting to take a different direction when Orion overheard that a former Decepticon medic, Delirium, was in fact Feint, who Orion had thought was dead. Racing to Rodion, Orion was able to convince Feint's cojunx endura, Blurr, to allow them to bring Feint back to Autobase for debriefing on 20,000 years of indentured servitude and provide her with a new frame as her previous body had been interned and recycled. Soon after Feint's return, Orion was assigned by Zeta the task of putting together a team of Autobots to protect a fund-raising event in Harmonex. While Arcee, Whirl, and Blurr served as the party's security, Orion and Ariel had their first public appearance as a couple. The moment was short-lived however, as one of Ariel's former co-workers, Starsinger, stumbled onto the auction stage, her body completely drained of energon and the words 'Save Nyon!' scrawled on her torso. In the ensuing chaos, the party's host, Allegro, was beheaded by a Decepticon assassin and Starsinger's body was removed from the premises by Ariel, Hot Rod and Backdrop. Ariel would later inform Orion of the strange wounds on Starsinger's back and that Hot Rod had suggested that they come to Nyon to find out who her murderer was. Betrayal As Pax arrived in Nyon with a team consisting of Ariel, Bumblebee, Hound, Ironhide and Wheeljack, Hot Rod led them down into the bowels of Nyon to where Zeta Prime had hidden a terrible weapon of mass destruction, Vamparc technology. Capable of stripping energon from a living mech, Zeta planned to use this device to drain all of the rebellious Nyon to use against the Decepticons. Before Pax and his team had a chance to react, Zeta made his move. Unleashing a massive wave of Vamparc armed Omega Destroyers, Zeta marched on Nyon. Pax's team, hopelessly outgunned, made a valiant effort to hold off the attack so that Hot Rod could evacuate the city, but unable to damage the Omega Destroyer - Orion instead charged Zeta Prime. Zeta used his own personal Vamparc weapon on Orion, causing massive system failures. Hot Rod saw little alternative but to destroy the city to prevent Zeta from taking it and it's populace as fuel for his war machine. Outraged, Zeta was poised to finish off Orion Pax when an unexpected ally arrived - Megatron, leading the Decepticon forces in a counter-attack on Zeta. Megatron was able to cause Zeta's weapon to overload, forcing the Prime to retreat. Megatron then had the Autobots gathered up and taken to Kaon for repair and recovery. Pax's frame had been terribly damaged in the battle, leaving him no alternative but to be rebuilt by Zephyr under the direction of Shockwave and Wheeljack. Megatron made overtures to Pax that he should see the light and correct path and join him in the Decepticon cause. Orion appreciated the offer but rejected the idea of being a Decepticon, feeling that Cybertron only needed a course correction not an overhaul, but did agree to assist Megatron in overthrowing Zeta Prime. After sending out a message to rally the Autobots against Zeta's tyranny, Pax started to form his own small army. Autobots came to Kolkular to join him. It was during a talk with Hot Rod that Feint arrived, informing Pax of her time with the Decepticons and showing him the truth of what it means to deal with them. The Parting of Ways With the information gained from Feint, it was with an abundance of caution that Orion Pax coordinated the assault on Iacon to take down Zeta Prime. He alone went with Megatron into the Great Hall for the final battle. Orion was able to delay Zeta long enough to allow Megatron to kill the Prime - but at great personal cost as Megatron then turned his cannon on his former friend and with one blast sent Orion on his way to oblivion in the Undergrid below. At least that was the plan. Orion survived the ordeal, however. While traversing the Undergrid, Orion made some revelations about himself before he realized that he had wandered as far as the Acroplex at Nyon. It was there that Orion Pax would make his final steps and would find the Matrix of Leadership. Orion Pax sacrificed himself to the Matrix. And in return, Optimus Prime was formatted, found later by Feint and Hot Rod. Miscellany Skills * Charisma * Battlefield Tactics * Police Procedure * Knowledge: Cybertronian Law * Super Cop * Suspicious Chest Compartment * Multi-Lingual * Hand-to-Hand Combat (Energon Axe/Halberd) * Marksman * Leadership * Doing The Right Thing * Hot Rod's Idol Weapons Ion Blaster - Optimus Prime's signature weapon, the ion blaster is an upgraded version of the nucleon rifle, with twice the normal rate of fire. Energon Axe - A halberd sized weapon, the energon axe wielded by Optimus Prime as his primary melee weapon. Double-bladed, it was originally an honorary weapon as part of his title as Archivist but has become more useful as he can transform it from his body. Voice Actor Optimus Prime is of course voiced by the great one himself - Peter Cullen. Relationships Techspecs Mode 1: Root Sheet Technologies Size 4 '* Brawn: '+1d Strength, specifically when unarmed, and increased unarmed damage to 1d6 rather than the Robot.Mode standard of 1d6/2. '* Low Fuel Consumption: '+1d6 Energon at the start of each battle and +1 Energon every 3 rounds. This can raise you above maximum. When the battle is over this Energon bonus is retracted. '* Trithyllium-Steel Hull: '''Add the Best 2 of 3d6 to your HP at the start of each battle. At the end of the battle this is retracted. This can raise your HP above maximum. '* Logic Center: '+2d Strategy, due to the sophistication of your superior circuitry. Req: Strategy. Mode 2: Heavy Transport Sheet Technologies Size 5 '* Trailer: 'Your Vehicle.Mode has an attached section. A Trailer grants the Ability of Storage, and a Sidecar grants the Ability of Carry. HP: 6, all Stats 5. Both vanish when not in use through ancient Cybertronian 'magic'. Alt.Mode Size +1. Req: Vehicle Alt.Mode. '* Roller: 'Part of your Alt.Mode transforms into a secondary unintelligent Robot that can perform one simple non-combat task each round. HP: 6, all Stats 5. Damage done to the Drone is repeated by 1/3rd back to the main Transformer. Add +1 to your Alt. Mode's Size, unless your Alt.Mode has Carry, Cargo, or a Trailer (T) '* Low Fuel Consumption: '+1d6 Energon at the start of each battle and +1 Energon every 3 rounds. This can raise you above maximum. When the battle is over this Energon bonus is retracted. '* Trithyllium-Steel Hull: 'Add the Best 2 of 3d6 to your HP at the start of each battle. At the end of the battle this is retracted. This can raise your HP above maximum. '* Logic Center: '''+2d Strategy, due to the sophistication of your superior circuitry. Req: Strategy. Previous Incarnations Orion Pax v1.0 - Archivist Under Sentinel Prime Orion Pax v2.0 - Field Commander under Zeta Prime Orion Pax Rebuild v3.0 - Post Battle of Nyon Soundtrack * Fausdots - Soft Light (IDW Official Spotlight: Orion Pax) * Choir of Young Believers - Action/Reaction (IDW MTMTE #10) * I Am Kloot - No Fear of Falling (IDW MTMTE #11) * Brother Firetribe (feat Anette Olzon) - Heart Full of Fire * Worth Dying For - Destroy * Celldweller - Against The Tide * Blue Stahli - Not Over Til We Say So Speeches Posted To Those Called "Autobot" Given shortly after Whirl and Blast Off's Debate and Megatron's execution of Senator Demicus. "Esteemed members of the 117th Cybertronian Senate. Sentinel Prime. All those who call themselves Autobot. All those who are undecided and unsure where they stand at this time as we edge towards the precipice of an abyss that there may be no turning back from. I am Orion Pax, formerly of the Rodion Police force. I was made aware last cycle of the attack on the area known only as the Forge and the failed rescue of Senator Demicus and the ensuing arrest of many of those that were in attendance. I am not here to commend Megatron on his actions, but rather to condemn them. What Megatron has done is rehensiple and he and those that carried out his cruel execution of the Senator should stand trial for their actions." "What I would like to address however, are those that may have been in attendance of this 'rally' who were not aware of the dark intents of Megatron. There are many who may have simply arrived at this location after the debate that was recently held between Blast Off and Whirl that had simply wished to hear the other side of the shanix. Am I saying that all of the spectators present were innocent bystanders caught in the dragnet of an overzealous security sweep? No. However, what I am saying is that there were those present that should be reviewed, examined, and then released as they were not there with malicious intent. This is the time where we can show compassion and restraint. That change can be made from within. The Senate may wish to simply wipe the slate clean and remove the sparks and function from all those that were captured, as there is no longer an Institute to handle reprogramming. This /should not/ be an option. Now is the time to make a decision, Autobots. You can decide to continue to follow blindly the edicts laid out before you by the Senate and Sentinel Prime. Or you can choose to do what is right and follow your conscience. We are not the soulless killing machines that the Decepticons dare to paint us to be with broad strokes. We are more. We should strive to be more. The Senate should not be allowed to use you as their personal vendetta device to sate their lust for energon in light of the death of one of their own." "I place it upon you, those who wear the first face, to look within yourselves. To decide that if the path you are currently is the path you wish to have history remember you as. As the tool of the Senate. As those that would not stand up for those who have no right to stand upon. To defend and protect the idles of what this.." he places his hand on his own Autobot symbol, "..should truly mean. This is not the symbol of tyranny. This should be the symbol that brings forth hope to the common mech and femme. Hope that we can change. Hope that we will protect them. Trust that we are there for them. This is the time to stand up for yourself. To stand up for what you believe in. I am but a simple mech. A former police chief. But I have been exposed to too much. I have seen too much of what this Senate is capable of. What Sentinel Prime wishes to carry out. I can no longer remain in the shadows and be content with merely surviving and scraping by. We must all stop living in the shadows. Because only together can we all be strong enough to overcome these dark designs that the Senate has drawn out. Only together and united can change be made. And only together can we persevere." "I leave it to you, those brothers and sisters in arms that call themselves Autobot to decide. Is this the right thing to do? Is this the path that I wish to follow? And is this how I wish history to remember me? I will find you should you choose to make things change with me. We can right the ship without having to scuttle the whole thing. We can make it right. And we can and will do it together." Towards Freedom Given in secret from Kolkluar after Zeta's destruction of Nyon. "My name is Orion Pax and I was recently targeted for death due to my stance against Zeta Prime in the city of Nyon. As you have surely seen or heard by now, Nyon is gone - destroyed by Zeta's pride, corruption and arrogance. Recently I was asked by one what I would have done differently if I had been Prime. This is my response." "I do not wish to be a Prime. That is not my business. Nor do I wish to rule or conquer. I should like to help everyone - if possible - disposable, Elite - Autobot, Decepticon. We should all want to help each other. It's in our very nature. On Cybertron, there should be room for everyone - even our kin that now are scattered across the universe and locked away by this terrible war that has gathered the attention of the Galactic Council. The way of our lives can be free and beautiful, but we have been lead from the path by a corrupted Senate." "Greed has poisoned their souls, has barricade the world in hate, has marched and rounded us up into misery and energonshed. We have developed marvelous technologies, but shut ourselves in. A world that once provided us abundance now has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, had and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and short and we are destined to disappear from this great universe." "The citiformer and the shuttle have brought the universe closer. The very nature of our inventions cries out for the goodness in us all - cries for universal kinship - for the unity of us all. Even now, I pray my voice reaches the millions throughout the world - those in despair, lost, defeated and broken - victims of a system that punishes progress and stifles growth." "To those that read this, I say - DO NOT DESPAIR. The misery that is visited upon us now is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of the few who have come to fear progress. This hate will pass, and dictators die and the power they took from all will be returned to us all in equal share. And so long as we can stand, freedom will not perish." "AUTOBOTS! Do not give in to the brutishness and cruelness of Zeta Prime. Do not let his despisement enslave you, regiment you, tell you what to do and tell you what to feel! Do not let him treat you as machinations - use you as cannon fodder. You are more than the sum of your parts. You have freedom in your sparks! You should not hate and destroy for the sake of the act. Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! AUTOBOTS! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for freedom!" "In the 'Covenenant of Primus' it is written 'the truest spark of Primus is within all' - not one mech or a group of mechs, but in us all! You, Cybertronians one and all, have the power to create. To create happiness and freedom. To make this life free and beautiful to take all of us on the a wonderful adventure to a new Golden Age." "Then in the name of democracy and freedom - let us use this power. Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give all a chance to work and thrive - that will give newsparks a future and the elders security. But the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power in the Senate. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will!" "Zeta Prime seeks to free himself from his bonds of having to face the consequence of his action by enslaving us all. But we can fight! Fight to fulfill the promises that lie in all of our sparks. Let us fight to free Cybertron! To do away with our borders, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a Cybertron where science and progress are used for happiness, not despair." "CYBERTRON! CAMIUS! VELOCITRON! COMBATATRON! To all that can hear my voice, I am Orion Pax, an Autobot that will stand by no longer. In the name of freedom, let us all unite!" Logs As Orion Pax As Optimus Prime Gallery Orion-pax-hipster.jpg Category:Autobot Category:Essential Feature Character Category:Character